scholarly journals KickStat: A Coin-Sized Potentiostat for High-Resolution Electrochemical Analysis

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orlando S. Hoilett ◽  
Jenna F. Walker ◽  
Bethany M. Balash ◽  
Nicholas J. Jaras ◽  
Sriram Boppana ◽  
...  

The demand for wearable and point-of-care devices has led to an increase in electrochemical sensor development to measure an ever-increasing array of biological molecules. In order to move from the benchtop to truly portable devices, the development of new biosensors requires miniaturized instrumentation capable of making highly sensitive amperometric measurements. To meet this demand, we have developed KickStat, a miniaturized potentiostat that combines the small size of the integrated Texas Instruments LMP91000 potentiostat chip (Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX, USA) with the processing power of the ARM Cortex-M0+ SAMD21 microcontroller (Microchip Technology, Chandler, AZ, USA) on a custom-designed 21.6 mm by 20.3 mm circuit board. By incorporating onboard signal processing via the SAMD21, we achieve 1 mV voltage increment resolution and an instrumental limit of detection of 4.5 nA in a coin-sized form factor. This elegant engineering solution allows for high-resolution electrochemical analysis without requiring extensive circuitry. We measured the faradaic current of an anti-cocaine aptamer using cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry and demonstrated that KickStat’s response was within 0.6% of a high-end benchtop potentiostat. To further support others in electrochemical biosensors development, we have made KickStat’s design and firmware available in an online GitHub repository.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Tian ◽  
Peter Svedlindh ◽  
Mattias Strömberg ◽  
Erik Wetterskog

In this work, we demonstrate for the first time, a ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) based homogeneous and volumetric biosensor for magnetic label detection. Two different isothermal amplification methods, <i>i.e.</i>, rolling circle amplification (RCA) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) are adopted and combined with a standard electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer for FMR biosensing. For RCA-based FMR biosensor, binding of RCA products of a synthetic Vibrio cholerae target DNA sequence gives rise to the formation of aggregates of magnetic nanoparticles. Immobilization of nanoparticles within the aggregates leads to a decrease of the net anisotropy of the system and a concomitant increase of the resonance field. A limit of detection of 1 pM is obtained with an average coefficient of variation of 0.16%, which is superior to the performance of other reported RCA-based magnetic biosensors. For LAMP-based sensing, a synthetic Zika virus target oligonucleotide is amplified and detected in 20% serum samples. Immobilization of magnetic nanoparticles is induced by their co-precipitation with Mg<sub>2</sub>P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub> (a by-product of LAMP) and provides a detection sensitivity of 100 aM. The fast measurement, high sensitivity and miniaturization potential of the proposed FMR biosensing technology makes it a promising candidate for designing future point-of-care devices.<br>


Author(s):  
Carla Eiras

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine and high bloodstream levels of which have been associated with severe inflammatory diseases, such as dengue fever, sepsis, various cancers, and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Rapid tests for the quantification of IL-6 would be of great assistance for the bedside diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as VL. We have developed a lateral flow assay (LFA) for rapid and colorimetric IL-6 detection, consisting of anti-IL-6 antibodies conjugated to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The optimal concentration of anti-IL-6 used in the conjugate was determined to be 800.0 μg/mL, based on an aggregation assay using LFA. A linear relationship between IL-6 standard concentration and color intensity was observed after 20 min, with a linear range between 1.25 ng/mL and 9,000 ng/mL. The limit of detection for this method was estimated a t0.38 ng/mL. The concentration of IL-6 in five patients with severe VL was measured using LFA, and the results were consistent with those obtained using the cytometric bead array (CBA) method. A thorough analysis of the LFA membranes’ surface morphology, before and after sample contact, was performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM).The prototype described here is still being tested and improved, but this LFA will undoubtedly be of great help in the clinical quantification of IL-6.


Author(s):  
Carla Eiras

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine and high bloodstream levels of which have been associated with severe inflammatory diseases, such as dengue fever, sepsis, various cancers, and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Rapid tests for the quantification of IL-6 would be of great assistance for the bedside diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as VL. We have developed a lateral flow assay (LFA) for rapid and colorimetric IL-6 detection, consisting of anti-IL-6 antibodies conjugated to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The optimal concentration of anti-IL-6 used in the conjugate was determined to be 800.0 μg/mL, based on an aggregation assay using LFA. A linear relationship between IL-6 standard concentration and color intensity was observed after 20 min, with a linear range between 1.25 ng/mL and 9,000 ng/mL. The limit of detection for this method was estimated at a t0.38 ng/mL. The concentration of IL-6 in five patients with severe VL was measured using LFA, and the results were consistent with those obtained using the cytometric bead array (CBA) method. A thorough analysis of the LFA membranes’ surface morphology, before and after sample contact, was performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The prototype described here is still being tested and improved, but this LFA will undoubtedly be of great help in the clinical quantification of IL-6.


Author(s):  
Sidra Amin ◽  
Amber R. Solangi ◽  
Dilawar Hassan ◽  
Nadir Hussain ◽  
Jamil Ahmed ◽  
...  

Background: In recent years, the occurrence and fate of environmental pollutants has been recognized as one of the emerging issues in environmental chemistry. A survey documented about a wide variety of these pollutants, which are often detected in our environment and these are major cause of shortened life spans and the global warming. These pollutants include toxic metal, pesticides, fertilizers, drugs and dyes released into soil and major water bodies. The presence of these contaminants causes major disturbance in eco-system’s balance. To tackle these issues many technological improvements are made to detect minute contaminations. The latest issue being answered by the scientists is the use of green nano materials as sensors which are economical, instant and give much better results at low concentrations and can be used for the field measurements resulting in no dangerous by-product that could lead to more environmental contamination. Nano materials are known for their wide band gap, enhanced physical and optical properties with option of tuneablity as per need, by optimizing certain parameters. They are proved to be good choice for analytical/optical sensors with high sensitivity. Objective: This review holds information about multiple methods that use green nanomaterials for the analytical assessment of environmental pollutants. UV-Vis spectrophotometry and electrochemical analysis using green and reproducible nanomaterials are the major focus of this review article. To date, there are number of spectrophotometric and electro chemical methods available that have been used for the detection of environmental pollutants such as toxic metals, pesticides and dyes. Conclusion: The use of nanomaterials can drastically change the detection limits due to having large surface area, strong catalytic properties, and tunable possibility. With the use of nano materials, lower than the marked limit of detection and limit of quantification were seen when compared with previously reported work. The used nano-materials could be washed, dried, and reused, which makes the methods more proficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5493
Author(s):  
Andrzej Gawor ◽  
Andrii Tupys ◽  
Anna Ruszczyńska ◽  
Ewa Bulska

Nowadays growing attention is paid to the control of fluorine content in samples of biological origin as it is present in the form of various biologically active organic compounds. Due to the chemically-rich matrix of biological tissues, the determination of fluorine becomes a very difficult task. Furthermore, a required complex sample preparation procedure makes the determination of the low contents of F by ion chromatography UV-Vis or ion-selective electrodes not possible. High-resolution continuum source graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS GF MAS) seems to be the best option for this purpose due to its high robustness to matrix interferences, especially in the presence of carefully selected modifiers. In this work the possibility of quantitative F determination in water and animal tissues was examined by measuring the molecular absorption of gallium monofluoride (GaF) at 211.248 nm with the use of a commercially available HR-CS GF MAS system. Experimental conditions for the sensitive and precise determination of fluorine were optimized, including the time/temperature program as well as addition of gallium and modifier mixture in combined mode. Under these conditions the fluoride present in the sample was stabilized up to 600 °C, and the optimum vaporization temperature for GaF was 1540 °C. Palladium and zirconium deposited onto the graphite surface served as solid modifiers; sodium acetate and ruthenium modifiers were added directly to the sample. The limit of detection and the characteristic mass of the method were 0.43 μg/L and 8.7 pg, respectively. The proposed procedure was validated by the use of certified reference materials (CRMs) of lake water and animal tissue; the acceptable recovery was obtained, proving that it can be applied for samples with a similar matrix.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 3985
Author(s):  
Nan Wan ◽  
Yu Jiang ◽  
Jiamei Huang ◽  
Rania Oueslati ◽  
Shigetoshi Eda ◽  
...  

A sensitive and efficient method for microRNAs (miRNAs) detection is strongly desired by clinicians and, in recent years, the search for such a method has drawn much attention. There has been significant interest in using miRNA as biomarkers for multiple diseases and conditions in clinical diagnostics. Presently, most miRNA detection methods suffer from drawbacks, e.g., low sensitivity, long assay time, expensive equipment, trained personnel, or unsuitability for point-of-care. New methodologies are needed to overcome these limitations to allow rapid, sensitive, low-cost, easy-to-use, and portable methods for miRNA detection at the point of care. In this work, to overcome these shortcomings, we integrated capacitive sensing and alternating current electrokinetic effects to detect specific miRNA-16b molecules, as a model, with the limit of detection reaching 1.0 femto molar (fM) levels. The specificity of the sensor was verified by testing miRNA-25, which has the same length as miRNA-16b. The sensor we developed demonstrated significant improvements in sensitivity, response time and cost over other miRNA detection methods, and has application potential at point-of-care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S57-S57
Author(s):  
Edgar Ong ◽  
Ruo Huang ◽  
Richard Kirkland ◽  
Michael Hale ◽  
Larry Mimms

Abstract Introduction A fast (&lt;5 min), time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based immunoassay was developed for the quantitative detection of infliximab (IFX) and biosimilars for use in therapeutic drug monitoring using only 20 µL of fingerstick whole blood or serum at the point-of-care. The Procise IFX assay and ProciseDx analyzer are CE-marked. Studies were performed to characterize analytical performance of the Procise IFX assay on the ProciseDx analyzer. Methods Analytical testing was performed by spiking known amounts of IFX into negative serum and whole blood specimens. Analytical sensitivity was determined using limiting concentrations of IFX. Linearity was determined by testing IFX across the assay range. Hook effect was assessed at IFX concentrations beyond levels expected to be found within a patient. Testing of assay precision, cross-reactivity and potential interfering substances, and biosimilars was performed. The Procise IFX assay was also compared head-to-head with another CE-marked assay: LISA-TRACKER infliximab ELISA test (Theradiag, France). The accuracy of the Procise IFX assay is established through calibrators and controls traceable to the WHO 1st International Standard for Infliximab (NIBSC code: 16/170). Results The Procise IFX assay shows a Limit of Blank, Limit of Detection, and Lower Limit of Quantitation (LLoQ) of 0.1, 0.2, and 1.1 µg/mL in serum and 0.6, 1.1, and 1.7 µg/mL in whole blood, respectively. The linear assay range was determined to be 1.7 to 77.2 µg/mL in serum and whole blood. No hook effect was observed at an IFX concentration of 200 µg/mL as the value reported as “&gt;ULoQ”. Assay precision testing across 20 days with multiple runs and reagent lots showed an intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) of 2.7%, an inter-assay CV of &lt;2%, and a total CV of 3.4%. The presence of potentially interfering/cross-reacting substances showed minimal impact on assay specificity with %bias within ±8% of control. Testing of biosimilars (infliximab-dyyb and infliximab-abda) showed good recovery. A good correlation to the Theradiag infliximab ELISA was obtained for both serum (slope=1.01; r=0.99) and whole blood (slope=1.01; r=0.98) samples (Figure 1). Conclusion Results indicate that the Procise IFX assay is sensitive, specific, and precise yielding results within 5 minutes from both whole blood and serum without the operator needing to specify sample type. Additionally, it shows very good correlation to a comparator assay that takes several hours and sample manipulation to yield results. This makes the Procise IFX assay ideal for obtaining fast and accurate IFX quantitation, thus allowing for immediate drug level dosing decisions to be made by the physician during patient treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Gaikwad ◽  
P. R. Thangaraj ◽  
A. K. Sen

AbstractThe levels of hydrogen peroxide ($${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 ) in human blood is of great relevance as it has emerged as an important signalling molecule in a variety of disease states. Fast and reliable measurement of $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 levels in the blood, however, continues to remain a challenge. Herein we report an automated method employing a microfluidic device for direct and rapid measurement of $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 in human blood based on laser-induced fluorescence measurement. Our study delineates the critical factors that affect measurement accuracy—we found blood cells and soluble proteins significantly alter the native $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 levels in the time interval between sample withdrawal and detection. We show that separation of blood cells and subsequent dilution of the plasma with a buffer at a ratio of 1:6 inhibits the above effect, leading to reliable measurements. We demonstrate rapid measurement of $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 in plasma in the concentration range of 0–49 µM, offering a limit of detection of 0.05 µM, a sensitivity of 0.60 µM−1, and detection time of 15 min; the device is amenable to the real-time measurement of $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 in the patient’s blood. Using the linear correlation obtained with known quantities of $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 , the endogenous $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 concentration in the blood of healthy individuals is found to be in the range of 0.8–6 µM. The availability of this device at the point of care will have relevance in understanding the role of $${\mathrm{H}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$$ H 2 O 2 in health and disease.


Biosensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Donggee Rho ◽  
Seunghyun Kim

An optical cavity-based biosensor (OCB) has been developed for point-of-care (POC) applications. This label-free biosensor employs low-cost components and simple fabrication processes to lower the overall cost while achieving high sensitivity using a differential detection method. To experimentally demonstrate its limit of detection (LOD), we conducted biosensing experiments with streptavidin and C-reactive protein (CRP). The optical cavity structure was optimized further for better sensitivity and easier fluid control. We utilized the polymer swelling property to fine-tune the optical cavity width, which significantly improved the success rate to produce measurable samples. Four different concentrations of streptavidin were tested in triplicate, and the LOD of the OCB was determined to be 1.35 nM. The OCB also successfully detected three different concentrations of human CRP using biotinylated CRP antibody. The LOD for CRP detection was 377 pM. All measurements were done using a small sample volume of 15 µL within 30 min. By reducing the sensing area, improving the functionalization and passivation processes, and increasing the sample volume, the LOD of the OCB are estimated to be reduced further to the femto-molar range. Overall, the demonstrated capability of the OCB in the present work shows great potential to be used as a promising POC biosensor.


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